Flatbreads have become increasingly popular as various ethnic foods enter the mainstream, particularly, mass-produced ethnic foods such as tacos, burritos, tortillas, pizzas, pitas, dosas, naan, pizzelles, crepes, pancakes, krumkakes, and the like. As these foods become more popular, more consumers desire the ability to make their own flatbreads by using a household cooking appliance that may reproduce nearly authentic flatbreads in their own homes. Typical preparation of flatbreads has been labor-intensive or requires repeated attempts to perfect a style for producing a quality flatbread, which has made appliances for making such flatbreads more desirable by general consumers. Various types of cooking appliances are known in the art, including panini presses, tortilla makers, pancake griddles, and pizzelle makers. Each of these appliances generally includes top and bottom heated plates that compress the flatbread or foodstuff therebetween. The compression of the flatbread or foodstuff between the top and bottom plates aides in the formation of the flatbread to a desired shape such as round, square, or shape having a pre-determined pattern.
Griddles, grills, presses, or other home cooking appliances used to produce flatbreads and other foodstuffs typically involve an upper and lower grilling surface. Tortilla makers, griddle irons, waffle makers, pizzelle presses, and the like, generally involve the upper and lower grilling surfaces pinned together to form a rotational axis about which the upper grilling surface rotates relative to the lower grilling surface. This pivotal movement provides for only two operative positions for the cooking appliance—an open and a closed position. Panini presses generally include upper and lower grilling surfaces wherein the upper grilling surface is connected to the lower grilling surface by a rotatable arm. The arm of the panini press is rotatable about an axis connected to, or adjacent to, the lower grilling surface, and the arm is pivotally connected to the upper grilling surface. The upper grilling surface moves in an arcuate manner relative to the lower grilling surface while keeping the upper grilling surface substantially parallel to the lower grilling surface. The movement of the upper grilling surface provides the panini press with only two operative positions—an open position and a closed position. Because these cooking appliances, as well as most typical cooking appliances, provide only an open and closed operative position, the appliances are generally limited to only a single application or capable of producing only a single type of foodstuff.